Sum 41's Deryck Whibley Recalls Reaching Out to Ex Paris Hilton After Her Sex Tape Came Out: 'I Listened to Her Cry'

Mar. 15, 2025

Deryck Whibley and Paris Hilton in Miami.Photo:Rodrigo Varela/WireImage

Deryck Whibley and Paris Hilton during 4th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards - After Party at The Loews Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, United States.

Rodrigo Varela/WireImage

Deryck Whibleykept in touch withParis Hiltoneven after their “whirlwind” romance in 2003.

In his new memoirWalking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell(out Tuesday, Oct. 8), the Sum 41 frontman, 44, recalls how the “Stars Are Blind” hitmaker, 43, “heard rumors that her ex was going to release a sex tape of her” toward the end of their six-month relationship.

“She was doing everything she could to stop it from coming out, but six or seven months after we broke up, the s— hit the fan,” Whibley writes in the book.

He continued: “We had stayed in touch after we split, and after the tape came out, I reached out. We had some sad conversations and I listened to her cry about having to tell her parents about it.”

Whibley praised Hilton and called her “a smart person.”

“It was great seeing how she was able to turn that invasion of privacy into something that worked for her in the long run,” he writes. “Her advocacy is admirable, too.”

Whibley also provided insight into their romance, which was “based on sex, drugs, booze and partying.”

“It was wild and fun and neither of us thought it would last, but we were determined to enjoy it while it did,” he writes, adding that “when we weren’t together, we talked constantly, spending hours on the phone every night.”

Paris Hilton and Deryck Whibley in 2003.Shutterstock

Paris Hilton and Deryck Whibley in 2003

Shutterstock

Elsewhere in the memoir, Whibley discussed the dissolution of histhree-year marriagetoAvril Lavignefrom 2006 to 2009, which stemmed from career changes that led to them being physically and emotionally “distant.”

After Sum 41 released its first middling album which happened to be without former manager Greig Noiri, whom Whibleyaccused of alleged sexual abuse in the book, the rocker found himself struggling.

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Avril Lavigne and Deryck Whibley in November 2007.Kevin Winter/AMA/Getty

Avril Lavigne and Deryck Whibley in the audience during the 2007 American Music Awards held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on November 18, 2007

Kevin Winter/AMA/Getty

The former couple’s relationship began to take a turn, though Whibley hoped it was a “passing moment.” Eventually, headdressed their dynamic with Lavigne, now 40.

He was tired of “being humiliated in the media” and hoped that the ultimatum would be “a wake-up call.”

“When she was finally at home for a few days, I laid it all out for her,” the “In Too Deep” musician writes. “‘We have to go back to the respectful loving relationship that we had, or we need to just call it quits,'” I said. ‘This isn’t working and I can’t live like this anymore.’ Avril told me her decision. There was no crying. There was no big fight. There wasn’t even much of a discussion. It was just over."

source: people.com